Education Librarian, Doucette Library

The Positive Psychology Movement

Positive psychology is a scientific field that focuses on understanding what allows individuals or institutions to flourish. Positive psychology was pioneered by Martin Seligman, Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Seligman argues that psychology should not merely be concerned with healing pathologies or repairing human lives, but that it should also focus on enhancing human fulfillment and flourishing. He proposed a model of well-being and happiness that centered around positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement (PERMA). The focus on well-being and flourishing in the workplace is in part motivated by this positive trend in psychological thinking and research and much of the literature on teacher well-being and flourishing is either grounded in or derived from Seligman’s model.

Scholarly Articles on Positive Psychology

This link will take you to a list of scholarly articles by the main contributors to the positive psychology movement as well as other topical scholarly publications (compiled by Dr. Nico Rose).